Beckett on Film

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Beckett on Film was a project to make film versions of all nineteen of Samuel Beckett's plays for the stage with the exception of the early and unperformed Eleutheria. This endeavour was completed with the first films being shown in 2001.

The project was conceived by Michael Colgan, artistic director of the Gate Theatre, Dublin. The films were produced by Michael Colgan and Alan Moloney for the Irish broadcaster RTÉ, the British broadcaster Channel 4 and the Irish Film Board. Each film had a different cast and director, drawn from theatre, film and other fields.

Some of the films were shown on Channel 4 television, and in 2002 the series won the Best TV Drama award at the South Bank Show awards. The films never had a general cinematic release, but in September 2001 all nineteen were screened at the Barbican Centre in London. They were also released on a number of videos and as a four DVD box set.

A documentary video titled Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film, and directed by Pearse Lehane was released in 2003, following the project's work [1].

Contents

[edit] Credits

[edit] Waiting for Godot

Original play published 1952.

[edit] Endgame

Original play published 1957.

[edit] Happy Days

Original play published 1960.

[edit] Act Without Words I

Original play written 1956.

  • Mime - Sean Foley
  • Directed by Karel Reisz
  • Running Time - 16 minutes

[edit] Act Without Words II

Original play written 1956.

  • A - Pat Kinevane
  • B - Marcello Magni
  • Directed by Enda Hughes
  • Running Time - 11 minutes

[edit] Krapp's Last Tape

Original play written 1958.

[edit] Rough for Theatre I

Original play written late 1950s.

[edit] Rough for Theatre II

Original play written late 1950s.

[edit] Play

Original play written 1963.

[edit] Come and Go

Original play written 1965.

[edit] Breath

Original play written 1969.

[edit] Not I

Original play written 1972.

[edit] That Time

Original play written 1975.

  • Listener and Voices - Niall Buggy
  • Directed by Charles Garrad
  • Running Time - 20 minutes

[edit] Footfalls

Original play written 1975.

  • May - Susan Fitzgerald
  • Voice - Joan O'Hara
  • Directed by Walter Asmus
  • Running Time - 28 minutes

[edit] A Piece of Monologue

Original play written 1980.

  • Speaker - Stephen Brennan
  • Directed by Robin Lefevre
  • Running Time - 20 minutes

[edit] Rockaby

Original play written 1981.

[edit] Ohio Impromptu

Original play written 1981.

[edit] Catastrophe

Original play written 1982.

[edit] What Where

Original play written 1983.

[edit] Critique

Many aspects of the plays' interpretations and performances have been critiqued by fans of Samuel Beckett, stating that not enough focus was placed on the words, and that many important aspects of the plays were lost because of it. Others have said that the plays were over-acted or over-directed, and that at times the cinematography was overdone. For instance, Waiting for Godot, Beckett's most popular and successful play, is highly dependent on the two main characters, Estragon and Vladimir, and their likability. However, the humor of the characters' words was not as pronounced as some fans would have liked.

[edit] External links

The Plays of Samuel Beckett
Stage Plays: Act Without Words I, Act Without Words II, Breath, Catastrophe, Come and Go, Eleutheria (posthumous), Endgame, Footfalls, Happy Days, Krapp's Last Tape, Not I, Ohio Impromptu, A Piece of Monologue, Play, Rockaby, Rough for Theatre I, Rough for Theatre II, That Time, Waiting for Godot, What Where
Radio Plays: All That Fall, Cascando, Embers, The Old Tune, Rough for Radio I, Rough for Radio II, Words and Music
Television Plays: ...but the clouds..., Eh Joe, Ghost Trio, Nacht und Träume, Quad
Screenplays: Film
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